Hinsdale ready to welcome new restaurants

Though one restaurant recently shuttered, Hinsdale's dining choices are expected to increase in the next few months, according to a village official.

A new café, Café LaFortuna, is slated to open Nov. 24, and a pizzeria chain, Fox's, that is expanding from Chicago and the south suburbs, will open a space in the village in 2013. Another newcomer, Cine, an upscale Mexican taqueria, opened recently in the Hinsdale Theater building.

The village, however, recently saw Zak's Place, which was at 112 S. Washington St., close.

The newest Hinsdale eatery, Café LaFortuna, at 46 Village Place, started serving cups of fresh ground coffee, pastries, and small savories, the weekend after Thanksgiving. It specializes in organic coffee from Mexico.

"We have a coffee bar and we're roasting our own coffee beans in our own roaster," said owner Alejandro Garcia.

He said there were a couple of reasons why they chose Hinsdale for their first U.S. location.

"Hinsdale is a nice town," he said. "There is not another roaster in the area. There aren't any Mexican coffee shops in the area either."

The other new restaurant coming to Hinsdale is Fox's Restaurant and Pub, which has several locations on Chicago's south side and suburbs. The pizzeria and family-style restaurant is planning to locate on the north side of the Gateway Square Shopping Center, on York Road, just south of Ogden Avenue.

The restaurant is slated to open in the spring. Tim Scott, the village's economic director, has said previously that Fox's is already familiar to many people in the area who grew up on the south side or in the south suburbs.

"We have a lot of transplanted south-siders here," he said.

Frank Fox, owner of the restaurant, said the new venture will be called Fox's on York, and he is excited about being in Hinsdale.

"I think it's a great location," he said. "I've wanted a location in the area."

Though Scott said these new eateries are pluses, all the news isn't good. The village recently lost Zak's Place, which had been in Hindale for five years.

Yamandu Perez, co-owner, said they were disappointed to leave Hinsdale.

"The sad part is we lost a lot of friends out there," he said.

He attributed the closure to the high cost of doing business, and rent.

"It got tougher and tougher. It wasn't financially viable for us anymore," he said.

He said the restaurant's water bill was about $1,650 a month, and that they were not able to come to agreement with their landlord on a reduction in rent. He said they paid about $35 a square foot, compared to about $19 a square foot, at their new restaurant, TWO, which they recently opened at 1132 W. Grand Ave. in Chicago.

"The cost of doing business in Hinsdale was too high," he said.

Scott said that landlords frequently work with tenants to keep them.

"On balance our property owners have worked with tenants to set up or modify agreements to keep tenants in place," he said.

Scott acknowledged, however, that coming out of one of the most difficult downturns in the American economy has been challenging for restaurateurs and property owners alike.

"We're still coming out of an economic slowdown," he said.

He said the village would like to see another restaurant come into the space vacated by Zak's.

"We absolutely would prefer to put a restaurant there," he said. "It already has the infrastructure."